The Flawless Plan That's Maybe Not So Flawless
by xtrophyeyes
Summary: Arthur wants Merlin to be his, so he devises a plan with the help of Morgana, Gwaine, and Lancelot. But seeing as Arthur's Arthur, it doesn't really work out all that well.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur had a plan; a good one too, if he did say so himself. It was pretty much flawless, actually. It was definitely going to make Merlin his. Arthur wanted to tell Merlin he liked him, but Arthur being Arthur, he needed Merlin to make the first move. He had to be patient though, as the plan would take a while to carry out, and it may not even work the first time (although Arthur didn't really want to consider that a possible outcome). And the first step of his oh-so-brilliant plan was thus: make Merlin jealous. It had been Morgana's idea, and Arthur thought his sister was a genius. Not that he'd ever tell her that, though.

At first, he wasn't sure how he was going to do this step though, until Morgana involved her boyfriend – Gwaine – in their plans. And Gwaine had a lovely gay friend named Lancelot. Lancelot was very easy on the eyes, was a lovely bloke, and wasn't a dim-witted fool. Arthur knew that if he wasn't head over heels in love with Merlin, he'd find Lancelot rather attractive. But on top of all this, Lancelot was also willing to help Arthur get Merlin in any way he could. So from now until the plan worked, Lancelot was his fake boyfriend.

This was why Arthur had brought Lancelot with him to Morgana's party; they knew Merlin would be there. He and Lancelot had already decided on what they were going to do depending on what would have the best effect. They had finally (after quite a lot of brainstorming) decided on going over to introduce Lancelot first so that Merlin knew they were 'dating', before they went off to dance together. If this didn't work, that would be it for the night and they would plan what to do next at a later date; if it did work, they'd kiss. Of course, to make sure Merlin was watching, Gwaine was going to hang out with Merlin the whole evening and text Arthur when he was looking over at them.

Arthur had hoped that Merlin would be frustrated by all this, or something of the sort. That way, Merlin would confess to Arthur that he liked him; Arthur would confess to Merlin that he liked him too, and then they'd shag. Morgana had rolled her eyes when Arthur told her about the shagging, but Arthur insisted it was necessary. Gwaine had agreed with Arthur entirely.

Snapping out of his thoughts when Lancelot nudged him in the side and asked if he was ready to go, the blonde nodded his head and began to walk over to Merlin, their hands intertwined. When Lancelot gave his hand an encouraging squeeze, Arthur smiled over at him gratefully. He needed to remember that for the plan to work, he had to be convincing. And to be convincing, he needed to be focused.

"Merlin, hi!" Arthur greeted, walking up to his friend with a huge grin on his face. Pushing aside the urge to lean in and lick Merlin's ear, he gestured across at Lancelot. "This is my boyfriend, Lance." He said, before carrying on. "I know I haven't mentioned him before, it just didn't come up" he said, shrugging nonchalantly. "He said he wanted to meet you though, since I apparently never shut up about you." Morgana had told him to say that last past – she had told him that it was vital. He couldn't remember why though, as at the time Arsenal had been playing Chelsea and he hadn't wanted to miss anything.

He watched as Merlin nodded and held out his hand politely to Lancelot, shaking it and giving him a small smile. Arthur could see that Merlin wasn't exactly comfortable, but took it as a good sign. If he was uncomfortable, it meant that he wanted to be with Arthur, right? Well, that was how Arthur took it, anyway.

"So, it was nice meeting you Lance" Merlin said a few minutes later, his somewhat-forced smile still present on his face. "But I'm gonna go and get something to drink, so, um, I'll see you two around." He then walked off, leaving a smirking Arthur. Merlin was never awkward around him, so it must be Lancelot. And since Lancelot was such a nice guy, it couldn't have been anything he'd said, which meant that Merlin was actually jealous.

Arthur turned to Lancelot and struck up a conversation for a few minutes, talking and laughing. They got on well, so they didn't have to pretend – it just came naturally. He was extremely glad for this, as it meant it wasn't torturous having to wait for Gwaine's text to signal that Merlin was watching; they could dance now.

As Lancelot took his hand and led him to the dance floor, Arthur made sure to smile widely at him, the way he would if it were Merlin who was taking him off to dance. He looked around the rented out hall briefly when they were at the centre of the floor – somewhere they were sure to get noticed. Sure enough, as Gwaine had said, Merlin was watching. Arthur raised his hand in a half-wave as he began to dance with Lancelot.

Since he and Lancelot were both good dancers, Arthur didn't mind having to dance with him; in fact it was rather fun. He soon lost track of time, and just ended up goofing around with him and having a laugh. His mind never left Merlin though. He was the centre of Arthur's attention, as per usual.

It was funny how Merlin never left his mind, really. The majority of his thoughts revolved around Merlin. Arthur was used to it though, so it didn't bother him much anymore. And he knew that once they were together, it wouldn't bother him at all.

Once they were both fully worn out, they walked over to the drinks stand (where Merlin and Gwaine were; Gwaine texting while Merlin purposefully looked anywhere but at Arthur) and poured themselves a drink each. "Alright there, Merlin?" Arthur asked, gulping down his drink, still panting from all the dancing. When he received nothing but a curt nod from the slightly taller boy, he chuckled. "What's up?"

Merlin looked over at him, then at Lancelot, and then back at him. He was also giving Arthur that look that said 'you know what's up, you clotpole'. Just when Merlin had opened his mouth to say something, Lancelot wandered over, causing Merlin to immediately drop his head and go back to ignoring their existence.

"I have to get back now, Arthur" Lancelot said, looking over at Merlin briefly. Arthur nodded and gave him a small smile, lifting his hand to turn his face so that Lancelot was facing him again, before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his lips. The plan seemed to be working, so them kissing was in order. He pulled back after a few seconds though, not wanting to take it too far.

"Okay, bye Lance" Arthur said, nodding his head as Lancelot walked away, still smiling a little before turning back to Merlin, who was already looking at him.

"I don't like him." Merlin deadpanned, folding his arms across his chest as Arthur looked at him and raised an eyebrow. This was a good sign though: there was no real reason for Merlin to dislike him – he was good looking, well mannered, and a lovely bloke. Merlin was definitely jealous.

"Well, I do, _Mer_lin, and my opinion is really the only one that matters in this situation" he said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. He could see Merlin starting to glare harder at the floor as his ears began to go red – a telltale sign that he was getting angry.

"I'm meant to be your best friend, Arthur, I think my opinion _does _matter."

"Well, I guess I'll be single for my whole life then, won't I? You don't get much better than Lancelot, he's a good guy." Arthur told him, biting his lip. This was where Merlin was meant to shake his head and tell Arthur that he was too good for Lancelot, kiss him, and then take it up the arse. But he didn't.

"I guess you're right..." Merlin said, his shoulders sagging, his head dropping. "You have my blessing; I hope you'll be happy..." And with that, Merlin walked away from him dejectedly, leaving a shocked Arthur in his wake.

Arthur didn't like that response; Merlin looked sad. Merlin being sad made Arthur sad, and Arthur hated being upset. But before he could say or do anything, Merlin had reached Morgana. Arthur watched as Merlin said goodbye and walked out, his chest tightening. He was the cause of Merlin's sadness, and he didn't like that one bit.

Arthur swallowed, walking over to Morgana once Merlin had left, biting his lip. What had gone wrong? Did Merlin not realise what Arthur was trying to do? Did he not really like him? His thoughts were cut off though when he reached his sister.

"Oh Arthur, I'm sorry. I don't know what went wrong" she said, sighing. Usually she'd tease him about Merlin, but even she could see how important it was to Arthur that the evening had needed to go to plan. It hadn't though, and she didn't like to see her brother like this, however much of a self-centred prat he could be.

"I-It's fine, really..." Arthur said, forcing a smile as he gave her a quick hug. "I'm going to head home now, I think..." he said shrugging his shoulders. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek when she nodded, before leaving the building too.

After flagging down a taxi, he got inside and gave the driver his address before leaning back against the seats and closing his eyes. He just wanted to get home and go to bed. He decided he'd think more about this in the morning, what to do next, when he wasn't tired anymore and his thoughts were making at least a little sense.

He sighed with relief when they arrived, getting out of the taxi after paying the fare, pulling out his keys as he approached the door. Once he'd let himself in, he took off his shoes and made his way upstairs, flinging himself down on his bed, not even bothering to change as sleep came almost straight away.

Arthur's eyes fluttered open, though he quickly closed them again when they began to burn, the intensity of the sunlight streaming through his window making it an automatic reaction. He lifted his hand to rub his eyes, attempting to open them again as he sat up. He smiled when they no longer burned as much, though the smile faded instantly as the events of the previous night washed over him. _He'd hurt Merlin_. "Oh, shit..."

He stood up, looking around the room as he licked his lips. Since he'd not had much to drink the night before (making Merlin jealous had been his main focus; not getting drunk) he thankfully didn't have a hangover. He did feel a bit ill though as he remembered the look on Merlin's face. Shaking his head to get it out of his mind, he made his way to the kitchen to get something to eat: he'd be able to come up with a way to make Merlin his after he'd had food.

Merlin couldn't believe it. He'd known from the second he saw Lancelot that it was _him_. The guy who had messed Merlin around, again and again. Sure, he seemed lovely at the start; sweet, nice and caring. But he wasn't. He did that to make people like him, and then he'd start screwing them around once they did. Merlin would know this, he'd been there. He'd left him in the end though, and he'd met Arthur a few months later. He'd fallen for Arthur straight away, but Arthur would never like him back; he was too good for Merlin.

He did, however, want Arthur to be happy, which was why he'd told Arthur he didn't approve of Lancelot. He'd been planning to tell Arthur what he was really like, but then Arthur had got, well, defensive and Merlin figured he'd best leave it until the morning to tell him. He _had _gotten upset though when Arthur told him that his opinion didn't matter, and when he'd basically told him that Lancelot was better than him, as he knew it wasn't true.

He'd left then, acting more upset than he was. If he was upset, Arthur would feel guilty. And if Arthur was guilty, he'd listen to what Merlin had to say better than he would in another situation. And then _maybe _Merlin would tell Arthur his true feelings, and then _maybe _they'd kiss, and – _no_. He scolded himself, shaking his head. It _wasn't _going to happen, Arthur would _never _like him like that.

Sighing, he pulled out his phone and started a text to Arthur. He wasn't really sure what to say, so it took him almost ten whole minutes to decide on: 'hey, it's Merlin... can I come over please?' Once he'd sent it, he sat back on his couch to wait, chewing on his lip nervously.

Arthur jumped a little when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Putting down his spoon, he pulled his phone out, wondering who it was that had interrupted his breakfast. When he saw that it was from Merlin, he quickly opened up the text, his breakfast forgotten. He quickly sent a reply telling him that it was fine (who was he to say no to Merlin after upsetting him so much last night?) before putting his phone onto the table and going to his room to get changed. He chose some old jeans and a comfortable jumper – one he knew Merlin liked – before going to sit on the couch. He browsed the internet while he was waiting on his laptop, unsure of what else to do with himself. It wasn't like Merlin was going to be a long time or anything.

And sure enough, fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the front door. Arthur made himself wait for a few seconds before standing up and going to let him in, not wanting to seem too eager to let him in and talk things through – he was meant to be annoyed at Merlin for being... well, whatever he was last night: rude about his 'boyfriend', that would do. "Merlin." He greeted, opening the door.

"Hi, Arthur..." Merlin said in reply, ducking his head. Arthur stepped aside to let him walk inside, and also so that he wouldn't give him an enormous hug like he really, _really _wanted to right then. He led him over to the couch and sat down at one end, his gaze resting on the other end. Merlin took the hint, and sat there. He stayed silent though, so Arthur rolled his eyes.

"So, what did you want to talk about? Well, I assume you want to talk – why else would you ask to come- ignore me." He said, biting the inside of his cheek to make himself shut up. Merlin knew that he rambled when he was anxious or nervous, so Arthur had just given away how he was feeling. Great.

His rambling did cause Merlin to smile a little though, so Arthur was rather glad that he had. "Well, um. I wanted to tell you something that happened to me a while ago – just before I met you, actually. You have to promise to let me talk though, and not to interrupt me." Arthur nodded at his request; it seemed reasonable. This seemed to make Merlin relax a little, which made Arthur smile a little too.

"Um, well. I met this guy..." Merlin began, chewing on his bottom lip, his hands in his lap. Arthur frowned a little – he didn't like the sound of this. "And, well. He was great. He was lovely, handsome, a right gentleman. I sort of liked him... a lot. And then, um. Well, he turned out not to be so great, after all."

Arthur frowned more; this person had hurt Merlin. And Merlin must still be upset about it, if he was here telling Arthur about it, especially after their argument about Lancelot last night. "Who is this person – do I need to beat him up or something?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady as his fists clenched. No one hurt Merlin, ever.

Merlin chuckled quietly at Arthur's words, shaking his head. "No, no you don't. You can break up with him, though." At this, Arthur looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, before his eyes widened in realisation.

"Lancelot?" He asked incredulously, looking over at Merlin. Merlin just nodded, and began to play with his fingers. Arthur let out a quiet laugh, causing Merlin's head to snap up, and a frown to form on his face.

"Don't you believe me, Arthur?" He asked, biting his lip hard.

"No, no, I do – of course I do. It's just... he's changed now, he's a nice guy; that's what Gwaine said. And we're not even dating, really, we were-" Arthur swallowed when he said the last part, looking away. He hadn't meant to say that to Merlin, at all. He'd – oh. Merlin was looking at him, glaring too.

"What do you mean, you aren't even dating? That's the impression I got, last night." Arthur could feel his cheeks starting to go red as he realised that he'd now have to confess his feelings to Merlin first, not the other way around.

"Um, well. We just pretended to be." He started, shrugging his shoulders awkwardly. "Because, um. I sort of wanted to make you jealous, so then we'd have sex and stuff..." he said, blushing even more. And shit, that came out wrong. "More than sex, actually" he said, before Merlin could speak again. "Relationship-y stuff, too." Just to clarify. "Like holding hands, and dates, and yeah, I'm going to shut up now..." he said, swallowing as he licked his lips nervously, looking away from Merlin, instead focusing on the wall.

What if Merlin didn't like him after all? What if Merlin had just been worried that Lancelot would treat Arthur badly? Oh, damn, that had to be it! Arthur was so stupid-. His thoughts were cut off, though, when he felt Merlin's lips against his.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N; THIS PART OF THE FANFICTION IS M RATED. IF YOU READ THIS BEFORE WHEN IT WAS A T, WATCH OUT. I don't own Merlin, blah blah. Enjoy chapter two!_

_**What if Merlin didn't like him after all? What if Merlin had just been worried that Lancelot would treat Arthur badly? Oh, damn, that had to be it! Arthur was so stupid-. His thoughts were cut off, though, when he felt Merlin's lips against his. **_

Arthur was shocked, but he kissed back right away; he'd been waiting long enough, he thought. He reached up and wound his arms round Merlin's neck, pulling him closer. There was no way he was letting Merlin stop. He smiled widely into the kiss when Merlin shifted closer, throwing a leg over his lap to straddle him, making the position more comfortable for them both.

"Merlin..." he mumbled into the kiss, reluctantly pushing him back once he could think again. "This – this can't be a- a one off thing, you know. I couldn't..." he trailed off, swallowing thickly. Arthur wanted – _needed _more than just that. He needed to be in a relationship with Merlin; he couldn't cope if it was just a casual thing.

Merlin smiled at Arthur, nodding his head. "I know... and it's not. I don't think I could cope if it was just a one-" This time, it was Merlin who was cut off, it was Arthur kissing him. Arthur felt Merlin smile wider as they continued to kiss, and then he felt nothing but pleasure as Merlin ground his hips against Arthur's, drawing an embarrassingly loud moan from the back of his throat.

"M-Merlin, god..." he managed to say, pulling back from the kiss in favour of attaching his lips to Merlin's neck. He began to nibble at the skin there, grinning widely when he heard Merlin moan his name. Arthur pulled his arms away from Merlin's neck, instead placing his hands on Merlin's hips, steadying him as they thrust their hips against one another. "Melin, I - I want to..."

"Y-Yeah, me too" was the breathless reply he got from Merlin, followed by another loud moan. Arthur thrust his hips up again, keeping one hand on one hip, moving the other up to unbutton Merlin's shirt. When he felt Merlin shudder beneath his fingertips, he bit his lip to contain his moan. Merlin was driving him _crazy _with want, and they hadn't even got started yet.

Once Merlin's shirt was discarded onto the floor, Arthur surged forward and took one of Merlin's nipples into his mouth. He started to suck, grinning in delight at the high-pitched mewling sound that escaped from Merlin's throat. Pulling his head back, he looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "You like that, huh?" He asked, his face slipping into a smirk when Merlin only nodded.

Arthur leaned forward and did it again, grinning even wider when Merlin seemed to be unable to stop himself from moaning again. He slowly slid his hands down to unbutton Merlin's trousers as he kept on sucking, wanting nothing more right then than to make Merlin feel good. Merlin came first for him when it came to satisfying their sexual desire, it seemed: just like he came first in every other aspect of Arthur's life.

"Arthur... Arthur, please..." Merlin panted, looking down at him with lust-filled eyes. It was the look Merlin gave him that caused Arthur to speed up the motion of his hands, push Merlin off of his lap to slide down his trousers, then drop to his knees in front of him.

"Want to- to taste you..." he said, looking up at Merlin, a small smile quirking his lips when Merlin's hips bucked forward at his words. Taking this as a yes, he slowly slid down Merlin's boxer shorts, his breath hitching when Merlin wriggled his ever-so-gorgeous hips to help get them off. "God... Merlin, yo- I-" Arthur stopped talking when Merlin laced his fingers through his hair, and diverted his gaze down to Merlin's cock, before hesitantly sucking the head into his mouth.

Arthur had given other men blowjobs before, of course, but none of them were _Merlin_. He knew he was good – he'd been told many times, he just wanted to be the best for Merlin. He deserved it, after all. He stopped thinking, though, when Merlin gasped and thrust his hips forward, shoving more of his length into Arthur's mouth.

Arthur reached up to hold onto Merlin's hips, steadying them so that he couldn't thrust again. He smirked a little when Merlin tried anyway, though, pulling off of his cock and shaking his head. "Nuh-uh." He said, licking his lips. "Keep your hips steady, _Mer_lin..." he said, leaning in to lick the tip of his cock.

"Ngyah..." was the response Merlin gave him, before he moaned again when Arthur licked his cock. The blonde was surprised at how vocal Merlin was, but he wasn't surprised to find out it turned him on. After all, Merlin's noises were _completely _boner-worthy.

As Arthur began to suck, Merlin's moans got louder and louder, resulting in Arthur's cock getting impossibly harder and harder. In the end, he found himself pulling his mouth off of Merlin's cock and shuffling onto his lap to grind against him. Merlin was moaning so loudly now, that Arthur was sure the people in bloody Australia could hear him.

He continued to grind, unable to stop himself. He'd wanted to fuck Merlin, wanted to make their first time together slow and romantic. But here he was, rutting against Merlin like he was fifteen again. And he was so, so close to coming, and Merlin was panting and rutting back, and muttering filthy things in his ear. And Arthur was coming, coming, coming as he moaned Merlin's name, as he told him he loved him, as he told him exactly how he felt about him.

When he finally recovered from his mind-blowing orgasm, it was to see that Merlin had come too, and was now looking at him like he was God, or something.

"What...?" He asked nervously. Why was Merlin looking at him like that? He knew he was flawless, but really.

"You just... you just told me you loved me." Merlin said, his ears going red at the tips, as Arthur's face turned pale.

"Oh." Arthur said, licking his lips nervously. "I- well, I do. I know you probably don't feel the same way, but, um... yeah."

"Such a prat." Merlin said as he grinned widely, leaning in to kiss along Arthur's jaw, sliding his arms round his waist at the same time. "Of course I love you."


End file.
